ICJ awards Pedra Branca's sovereignty to Singapore

Amazing!The gods are favouring us.We are so lucky.:cheers:
MY::bash:
Indon::bash:

Johor Member of Parliament Does Not Want Recurrence Of Pulau Batu Puteh Issue

KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 (Bernama) -- Pontian Member of Parliament, Ahmad Maslan, does not want a similar situation to occur following Malaysia's loss of sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh as decided by the International Court of Justice recently.

On that note, he urged the government to study all aspects of the law so that the island located about five kilometres from Pontian, Johor remains Malaysian property.

The island has a lighthouse that is administered by Singapore.

Ahmad said according to Wisma Putra, based on a historical agreement signed in the 1800s, that as long as the lighthouse was used it would remain Singaporean property.

"The question is whether the lighthouse is still being used as it is from the past era. We now have the Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine that ships do not hit corals, small islands and other obstructions.

"I am also voicing the worries of Pontian residents who do not want the Pulau Batu Puteh incident to be repeated," Ahmad told reporters at the parliament lobby here Monday.

He said until now, there had been no claims made including by Singapore on the ownership of Pulau Pisang.

As such, Ahmad said the island should be developed quickly and the lighthouse there should not be left to be as there were worries that a claim on its ownership might arise as in the case of Pulau Batu Puteh in 1980.

He called on the government to have a programme to develop Pulau Pisang to ensure the country's sovereignty over the island as well as to benefit the local people.

At the same time the government must study ways to take over the administration of the lighthouse on the island, he said.

Ahmad said the step was important as the island had similar historical aspects as Pulau Batu Puteh and if left without development, be it by the federal or state government, it could lead to another overlapping claim.

Ministry can help take over lighthouse on Pulau Pisang

By FLORENCE A. SAMY


PETALING JAYA: The Foreign Ministry will negotiate with all parties concerned if Johor is interested in developing Pulau Pisang, said Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.

The Foreign Minister said there was no question that the history and ownership of the 154ha island was under Johor although the lighthouse was currently manned by four Singaporean guards.

Johor and the British government signed a treaty in 1900, which gave ownership of the island to Johor and allowed the British to build the lighthouse, which guides ships into Singaporean Straits.

“Pulau Pisang’s situation is different from Batu Puteh. Some Johoreans are angry that we have not taken over the lighthouse.

“There is a big possibility to do this but all this while, there has been no application asking for the lighthouse to be taken over by Malaysia.

“If we don’t ask, how to give?” said Dr Rais last night when appearing on RTM1’s talk show Bersemuka Dengan Media: Isu Semasa dan Polisi Negara.

The Star’s assistant news editor Paul Gabriel and New Straits Times’ foreign editor Kamarulzaman Mohd Salleh fielded questions to Dr Rais together with the host, Sabaruddin Ahmad Sabri.

Dr Rais said the agreement between Johor and British could be re-looked and a diplomatic note could be sent to Singapore to express Malaysia’s intentions over the lighthouse.

Over the last few days, politicians and the public had suggested that the Government take over the operation of the lighthouse to ensure the island did not suffer the same fate as Batu Puteh.

On May 23, the International Court of Justice awarded Batu Puteh to Singapore partly because it had consistently shown acts of sovereignty over the tiny island for more than 100 years compared to Malaysia which showed no action for over a century.

Malaysia, however, was awarded Middle Rocks while the ownership of South Ledge was undetermined.

“Our win on Middle Rocks is significant as something we have never touched for hundreds of years is now ours. We need to appreciate this,” he added.

Dr Rais said one must not react emotionally to the Batu Puteh decision without knowing the facts or knowledge of international laws.

“What will happen if all three went to Singapore? We didn’t win all or lose all. It is not right to say we didn’t win as Middle Rock is very strategic for future research and monitoring,” he said.

Dr Rais said Singapore had shown positive attitude towards the joint technical committee, which would look into matters of territorial waters and rights of fishermen when carrying out ICJ’s decision.

World Court awards contested island of Pedra Branca to Singapore

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: The International Court of Justice on Friday awarded Singapore sovereignty over a disputed island hosting a strategic lighthouse at the eastern entrance of the Singapore Straits.

The lighthouse on the granite rock has been a landmark for 150 years and a beacon of safety for hundreds of ships passing daily.

The U.N.'s highest court, however, gave Malaysia ownership of a smaller uninhabited outcropping. Sovereignty over a third disputed cluster of rocks was to be determined later by the countries when they sort our their territorial waters, the ruling said.

The three tiny rock clusters have been the scene of recorded shipwrecks for nearly 500 years, and now guard the entranceway to one of the world's busiest waterways used by some 900 ships daily.

Malaysia had disputed Singapore's rule of the two-acre (0.8 hectare) island listed on most maps as Pedra Branca and known by Malaysia as Pulau Batu Puteh. It is about 40 miles (65 kms) from Singapore, but only seven miles (10 kms) off the Malaysian coast.

Singapore, a former British colony, claimed it inherited the island which it said was ceded to the British in the mid-1840s to build the lighthouse.

Malaysia said the sultan of Johor, whose ownership of the island was recognized as early as the 1500s, had given the British permission to build and operate the lighthouse but had never given up sovereignty.

The 16-member court agreed that Johor, now a Malaysian state, had historical ownership, but pointed to conflicting evidence about whether it had legally transferred sovereignty.

It ruled in favor of Singapore's argument that it had exercised sovereign powers over the rock since the Horsburgh lighthouse opened 1851, with no protest from Malaysia until 30 years ago.

Both sides said they accepted the ruling.

"It is a good example to the region of how such disputes can be resolved in a peaceful and amicable manner," said Singapore's deputy prime minister, S. Jayakumar.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Rais Yatim called it a win-win ruling since each side won a partial victory. Resolving such disputes through the rule of law, he said, "will make the world safer."

Yatim said the two countries would establish a committee to determine ownership of the third island, South Ledge, which lies in overlapping territorial waters.

The dispute erupted after Malaysia published a map in 1979 referring to the lighthouse island as its territory for the first time in modern history. Singapore protested, and the argument became a diplomatic irritant until they agreed in 2003 to submit the case to the U.N. court, also known as the world court.

The court examined treaties and documents dating back to 1824 governing an area hotly contested between the superpowers of the day, Britain and Holland.

But its final decision, by a 12-4 majority, rested largely on Singapore's consistent conduct over the last 100 years.

It took charge of investigating accidents in the surrounding waters, installed naval communications equipment in 1977 and published a series of six maps from 1962 to 1975 that showed Pulau Batu as Singaporean territory. Malaysia did not protest the maps.

The judges also gave weight to a 1953 exchange of letters between Singapore and Johor, then part of the Malaysian federation which also was a British colony. When Singapore asked for information on the island's status, Johor's state secretary replied that his government "does not claim ownership."

In its oral presentations last year, Malaysia representative Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Mohamad argued that Singapore's claim had "implications for the territorial and maritime stability of the straits," and that resolving the case was crucial for maritime and environmental safety.


http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/23/europe/EU-GEN-World-Court-Singapore-Malaysia.php

Finally the truth is out why we fought so hard for the little rock known as Pedra Branca!